作者： bharat.cn

Twelve more people have tested positive for coronavirus — six in Kerala and three each in Karnataka and Pune, state authorities said on Tuesday as the total cases went up to 59 and amid COVID-19 scare, a combination of two anti-HIV drugs was used for the first time in India in the treatment of two patients.

The health ministry said the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 50, adding the rest are being retested for confirmation. Once the fresh cases declared by the state governments are taken into account, the figure will go up to 59.

In Karnataka, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said four persons have been confirmed for coronavirus, including three new cases. In Pune also, three persons tested positive, a day after two cases were reported.

In the morning, 58 Indians were brought back home from coronavirus-hit Iran in a military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

IAF spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee said the C-17 Globemaster aircraft evacuated 25 men, 31 women and two children. It also brought swab samples of 529 Indians to carry out laboratory tests and check whether they have coronavirus infection.

Those who returned have been quarantined at a medical facility in Hindon.

Announcing the latest cases in Kerala at a media interaction in Thiruvananthapuram after a special cabinet meeting held to discuss the coronavirus situation, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said at least 1,116 people are under observation — 149 in isolation wards of various hospitals and 967 under home quarantine.

The fresh cases are friends and relatives of an Italy-returned couple and their son who had on Saturday tested positive for the deadly virus along with two other kin staying with them at their home in Rane in Pathanamthitta district, Health Minister K K Shailaja, who was also present, said.

The aged parents of the couple are among the six latest positive cases, she said.

In Jaipur, the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, both second-line HIV drugs, was administered was administered on an elderly Italian couple undergoing treatment for Covid-19 at the SMS Hospital.

The Drug Controller General of India approved “restricted use” of these medications for treating those affected by novel coronavirus after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sought their emergency approval.

SMS Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr D S Meena said the Italian man and his wife had developed severe respiratory problems following which a decision was taken to put them on the combination of lopinavir and ritonavir.

According to officials, consent of the patients was taken before the drugs were administered.

This combination along with other drugs has been used in clinical trials in China, where coronavirus first emerged, and Thailand for treating Covid-19 patients.

In Karnataka, a software engineer who returned from the US on March 1 tested positive on Monday, becoming the first COVID-19 patient in the state.

According to health department officials, his wife and daughter too tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Another person, who had travelled from America via London and arrived in Bengaluru on March 8, also tested positive, they said.

State Health Minister Sriramulu said the family members of the four persons have been quarantined. Using a hashtag of #CoronaVirusOutBreak, the minister said, “I appeal to the people to make sure that this disease does not spread further.”

Qatar has temporarily barred travelers from 14 different foreign nations from today as the coronavirus infection tally surged globally. The ban covers China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. Qatar has a coronavirus infection toll of 15.

Globally, such measures are now the norm. The ministry of health has published a travel advisory for Indian citizens, asking them to refrain from traveling to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan. According to the statement: “Indian citizens are advised to refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan and advised to avoid non-essential travel to other COVID-19 affected countries. In addition to visa restrictions already in place, passengers traveling from /having visited Italy or Republic of Korea and desirous of entering India will need certificate of having tested negative for COVID-19 from the designated laboratories authorized by the health authorities of these countries. This will be enforced from 00:00 hours of March 10, 2020, and is a temporary measure till cases of COVID-19 subside.”

Even as restrictions on overseas tourists rose, Japan lodged a strong protest with India over its decision to cancel all e-visas to Japanese nationals in view of coronavirus cases. Japan issued a demarche to India seeking review of its decision to cancel e-visas to Japanese nationals. In its demarche, Japan took strong note of India’s decision to club Japanese nationals along with people from other countries ignoring strong bilateral ties between the two nations.

India had suspended all regular visas/e-visas granted on or before March 3 to nationals of Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan as part of measures to check spread of coronavirus in the country. The regular/e-visas granted to people from Italy, Iran, Japan and South Korea were suspended after these countries reported rising number of coronavirus cases. The e-visas granted to people from these four countries who have not yet entered India were also suspended with immediate effect. India had suspended regular/e-visas granted on or before February 5 to Chinese nationals and the restriction is continuing.

On Sunday, five fresh coronavirus cases were reported in Kerala, bringing the tally to 39. Three people who returned from coronavirus-affected regions in the past nine day were on Sunday quarantined for suspected exposure in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, a senior health official said on Sunday. Indore District Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Praveen Jadia said the three, including a 34-year-old woman, had returned from the United States and Malaysia.

After flooding and landslides caused numerous deaths in Pakistan late last week, parts of the country are bracing for the arrival of another potent storm system.

The storm will track from southern Iran into Pakistan through Tuesday before arriving in northern Pakistan on Wednesday.

Showers and thunderstorms will spread from eastern Afghanistan into far northern India, including the states of Himachal, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by Wednesday.

Steadier and heavier rain is forecast for far eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and into far northern India as the storm forces moisture into the meeting point of the Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains.

By Friday, the storm will begin to move east. Rain and storms will gradually taper off across Pakistan, but they will spread farther east along the Himalayas into northeastern India and Bhutan.

Through the second half of the week, isolated showers and thunderstorms are also expected to develop in parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal of eastern India.